Seminar - SCM

Abstract: :  Since their inception, liquid crystals (LCs), a class of soft materials, have been integrated into various scientific research areas, mainly due to their inherent potential for self-assembly and their ability to readily respond to externally applied perturbations. Among the different phases, the nematic phase has always been the best choice for the development of various display devices. Smectic LCs are also crucial in various applications, specifically memory devices and more. Recently, the advent of nanotechnology, especially the development of 2D materials has led to a significant surge in research on utilizing nanoparticles for diverse LC applications. For instance, the fabrication of tunable electro-optical devices needs the uniform response of LC molecules to external stimuli. This uniform response can be achieved with a stable alignment layer, and the current trend is to explore the utilization of 2D nanomaterials for the purpose. This problem is focussed by deploying a 2D h-BN film deposited through an electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique on both ITO and non-ITO (Al-doped zinc oxide – AZO) substrates, respectively, to obtain large-area unidirectional planar alignment of nematic LCs for high-quality display applications. Besides alignment, the incorporation of h-BN nanoflakes into an LC-polymer system paved the way for novel applications, such as the fabrication of electrically actuated infrared regulators. The fabrication of an erasable optical memory device using an LC-QD nanocomposite, wherein a field-induced writing and a temperature-induced erasure protocol are employed, is also discussed. Here again, h-BN as an alignment layer is seen to be helpful in creating a dynamic photoluminescent memory. Overall, the seminar talks about the much-needed investigations and discussions on the interactions among soft materials (LCs) and nanostructures to understand these hybrid composites from viewpoints of technological perspectives.